Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Activist Training

Last night I attended a seminar on how to be an activist. Unfortunately it fell flat. Before I start, allow me to say that if you are just getting interested in a cause or politics and you have no clue where to start, that this seminar will be beneficial to you. However if you are already active, promote a business, or sell yourself to the public, this is not for you.

It was like I was sitting in a Jr. High Civics class.

The opening lecture was by a Politician, Rep. Shari Weber. She was enthusiastic, and really getting us motivated. She was asked about the legality of the GM bankruptcy, and them closing dealerships. Since these dealerships are privately owned, she said that it was very illegal, and then said, "But it's happening, and look what road we have been going down." I almost felt like she was ready to give up, but then she started becoming angry. That gives you a bit of hope.

Then came the Political Science grads. Who I believe just graduated. It was difficult to pay attention to the first Lady. She spoke in a manner that screamed teen girl. She had yet to grow out of that, and it made it difficult to stay enthusiastic about it. I wasn't the youngest in the group, usually I am There were 2 other's that looked to be my age, and a 20 something year old was seated next to me. The rest of the room were older men and women, many of whom had protest back in 1969 as liberals, and who were now seated in this room to protest a more conservative ideal.

I also discovered that this wasn't sponsored by the Sam Adams Alliance, but by American Majority. A relatively new group, operating in only 7 states. But they do work closely with Sam Adams Alliance. The speakers kept reiterating that they were a bipartisan group, however a pamphlet I was given talked about conservatism only. I was concerned that maybe, because I am not a conservative that I was in the wrong place.

The first political science grad spoke about building a coalition and reaching your community. She spoke for 40 minutes, but I can break it down for you in a few sentences. First have a cause you are passionate about and then talk to other's about it. Find out the legalities of your area about establishing a coalition, then sell yourself and your opinions as much as possible. Carry a business card with you at all times to hand to other's as you network. And speak to every one in an 8th- to 12th grade level. Don't fret over if the person you are networking with has "connections" coalition start with the minority first, then the big wigs jump on the band wagon. Have set goals, and walk the walk, not just talk.

Then we were told how to organize meaningful events. I think I blackout at one point of the lecture. It is mainly about advertising your self and your cause. Write up invites, make sure dates don't conflict, delegate chores. And that small events are just as important as large ones.

We seemed to be encouraged to invite our local politicians over for a Candidate coffee. A way to help our candidate meet and greet the locals, and find out more about the politician.

At break it was mentioned that this lecture was missing something. I turned around and said, enthusiasm. It was a dry lecture, and we were about to find out how dry it was. Next came roles of the government.

I went a little mad during that lecture. You could not tell me that we really needed to sit through 20 minutes of government 101 in a group like this one. This weren't new hats sitting in that room. And I am sure you all know the roles of government, so I will not re-hash all of that for you.

If you are not political, but are looking to start. If this is your first time speaking out and you are nervous or don't know how to begin, then this seminar would be good for you. However, if you, like me, have been active for years, just keep plugging away. Write to your officials, call them out on various new media sources, hold them accountable for their actions, or lack there of. And remember, they work for us. We pay their salary, they need to be reminded of that, and they need to listen to were we stand. Even if it isn't the popular view, tell them.

wow! This is some good information, I need to make time to attend something like this...All my activism has been online. Really need to get out there and meet people and shake hands to get things really rolling

Did Representative Weber say what could be done if the things that are being done are illegal? I think that there are a lot of people who want to do something, but aren't clear on what the right things to do are. Do we write our Senators and ask them to present a bill? Is there a bill addressing the legality already there in the House of Representatives that we could ask our own officials to support? Seems like if it's illegal in the system, there should be something in the system that could fix it. If it's legal, then according to the system, the majority rules. Sorry to be long, but I am very curious about it....

I did some digging, and looks like the media is misreporting what is actually happening. They are no closing the privately ran franchises, they are not renewing contracts with them. The rumors of them taking cars away isn't the full story. GM is reimbursing the dealers for these vehicles if the want to sell them off. But they make these dealers uncomfortable because warranties will no longer be accepted at these closed dealerships.

There is absolutely no reason for GM to close any of these dealerships. Or not renew. Because they make money from all these dealerships. Dealers buy the cars out of pocket, spend their own money on ads, and signs. The only thing that GM carries is warranties. Without local dealers, GM will actually loose more money because of towing costs to bring the cars 100 miles or so out of any rural area closures to fix the broke down cars.

None of it makes any sense. But it doesn't look like any laws have been broken, except in some cases, legally binding contracts.

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